The Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has printed one million copies of Don Quixote to mark the 400th anniversary of the publication of Cervantes' novel. This week they are being handed out free in public squares for the improvement of his citizens, while at the same time our (Great Britain] politicians are also on the streets distributing material of infinitely less literary merit (campaigning]. So, for making this wonderful novel freely available to Venezuelans, hats off to Hugo

[read on at the Guardian website]